While House Republicans have already embraced Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) ambitious vision for the 2012 budget, the Republican Study Committee is offering a starkly different alternative from the official party version.

RSC Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio and his allies Thursday listed some talking points in support of their proposal: It would balance the budget in 2020. It would make huge cuts in domestic spending, both in discretionary and mandatory programs. And it would make bold moves to delay coverage for Social Security and Medicare beneficiaries, including an extension of the eligibility age for persons who are now 59 years old.

In a conference call with reporters, Jordan said that his plan “complemented” the Budget Committee plan that got unanimous Republican support — including from Jordan’s three chief collaborators: Reps. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.), Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) and Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.).

“We have to [make the additional cuts] because the alternative is that we go broke,” Jordan said. “We have to look at the drivers of the debt.”

Jordan conceded that the House is not likely to approve his alternative. But he made clear that he will push to maximize support. “We hope to get more than the 111 votes in 2009,” when the RSC most recently offered a budget alternative. Since then, Republicans have gained 63 House seats. Mulvaney predicted “strong support” from his fellow GOP freshmen.

For Budget Committee Chairman Ryan, the RSC alternative may be a mixed blessing. To the extent that his plan is not scheduled to reach a balanced budget until roughly 2040, Jordan makes clear that more aggressive approaches are available.

On the other hand, some of the RSC spending-cut options may be so politically unpalatable that they highlight the difficulty of making serious deficit reduction — especially with the unwillingness of both Ryan and Jordan to include tax increases. A summary of the RSC plan shows, for example, that it would reduce nondefense discretionary spending from $409 billion in 2012 to $218 billion in 2021.

The conservative alternative makes huge spending cuts by cutting many “mandatory” spending programs to their 2007 “pre-stimulus” level, which also happens to be the final budget before Democrats took control of Congress in the 2006 election. Among those programs are food stamps, supplemental security income and family support programs that were created by welfare reform. The RSC plan also would make big cuts in farm spending and student assistance and would increase fees for mortgage loans.

With Social Security and Medicare, beneficiaries born in 1957 or later would face a two-month delay per year in their initial eligibility.